Everyone loves a good horror-themed show, and October has some delightfully dreadful ones to get you into that Halloween mood.
Horror movies usually draw the most attention, with major staples like Halloween and Hellraiser standing as legendary franchises that have continued for decades. On the other hand, TV shows shouldn’t be dismissed as being second-tier, as there are multiple newer series more than capable of delivering the spine-tingling chills audiences want. The horror genre is one of the most popular genres today and the content and excitement for them is only growing. With that said, let’s explore this list of 10 frightening shows to binge this Halloween.
1. The Midnight Club
Netflix’s new Halloween offering is The Midnight Club. The series is about a group of terminally ill teenagers who live at Brightcliffe Hospice, a haunted place with danger around every corner. They cope with their difficult circumstances and tell terrifying stories at midnight (hence the title). The group makes a pact that the first one to die must send a sign from beyond the grave and things just get more twisted from there and a whole hell of a lot of jump scares.
2. Vampire Academy
Peacock’s Vampire Academy takes place in a world where vampires have built their own society with their own codes and customs. Royalty meets gothic horror in this young adult tale and the world-building is the best part. There are three types of vampires, the Moroi, Dhampir, and Strigoi, each with their own magical abilities and attributes. This society isn’t without its problems as love complications, terrible secrets, and power grabs pull these supernatural characters in unexpected directions, and there’s a bit of blood and violence too.
3. Devil in Ohio
Let’s be honest, it’s just nice seeing Emily Deschanel from the long-running Fox series Bones again. Deschanel plays hospital psychiatrist Dr. Suzanne Mathis who takes in a teenage girl named Mae (Madeleine Arthur). The girl shows up in an Ohio hospital with a mysterious past that Suzanne tries to unravel (at the cost of her family). May has an inverted pentagram carved on her back, and as Suzanne digs deeper into the girl’s past, shadows from her own past begin appearing. Devil in Ohio will have you guessing the whole way through about what’s really going on.
4. The Imperfects
Netflix’s The Imperfects has the most levity out of the other shows that are listed, but it still fits well into the horror genre. Three young adults each suffer from a condition that requires them to take little blue pills to keep them normal. When their pills run out, they become monsters, and their lives turn upside down. There’s a banshee, a succubus, and a chupacabra, and finding a cure won’t be so easy with Flux agents on their case. This show is more distressing on a psychological level because of how difficult their lives become because of the monstrous changes.
5. Interview with the Vampire
The new Interview with the Vampire on AMC Plus has an impossible task. It has to stand up against the beloved Anne Rice books and the movie starring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, and it does so with precise finesse. Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) tells an interviewer about his life in New Orleans in 1910 where he works as a pimp and takes care of his family. He meets a devilishly hands Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) who shows him a dangerous and dark world, turning him into a vampire and teaching him the ropes of a nocturnal creature. It’s one of the steamiest new shows and one of the bloodiest as well.
6. Midnight Mass
Midnight Mass has to be one of the most underrated horror shows in recent memory. It was released on Netflix in 2021 and follows Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford), a man who returns to his hometown on Crocket Island. He’s haunted by his past and is trying desperately to find his purpose. When a mysterious Father Paul Hill (Hamish Linklater) arrives, supernatural events start happening around the town. The people begin to love him, but there’s more to his story than meets the eye. There are questions surrounding Father Paul Hill replacing the old priest and questions begin to arise regarding what really happened.
7. Chucky
So technically, Chucky is a horror franchise that’s been around for ages, but the TV series is new so it’s going on the list. It’s on its second season, which gives people a whole season to binge and they won’t regret it. The show takes place in Hackensack, New Jersey, and follows Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur), a misunderstood teenager who makes abstract art. When he finds a Good Guy doll at a yard sale for his next project, his life nosedives into horror as it comes to life and kills his abusive father, and tries to get him to commit murder. Jake has a friend (and crush) Devon (Björgvin Arnarson) who helps him stop Chucky and save the town. To everyone’s surprise, Chucky works better as a series in the modern age.
8. Servant
Apple TV Plus’ popular thriller series Servant from M. Night Shyamalan is family drama at its creepiest. It’s the story of a mother who loses her baby and gets a reborn doll as a replacement to alleviate her stress. She hires a nanny who may have the ability to actually bring back the real-life child and the story gets wilder from there. What really stands out in this show is the performances from of Lauren Ambrose who plays the grieving mother Dorothy Turner, and Nell Tiger Free who plays the enigmatic nanny Leanne Grayson. Servant has three seasons, and thankfully will be coming back for a fourth and final season.
9. Archive 81
Archive 81 premiered earlier this year on Netflix and although it’s not getting a season two, it’s still a fantastic watch. Mamoudou Athie plays Dan, an archivist who’s hired to restore a collection of tapes for a museum. While he’s working, he finds video of a woman named Melody (Dina Shihabi) who finds herself at a mysterious apartment that went up in flames under strange circumstances and Dan tries o solve what’s going on. Making matters weirder, LMG president Virgil Davenport (Martin Higgins) has an interest in these tapes, and his need for Dan to fix them might be far darker than he claims. It’s beyond unfair that this only got one season, but it’s still a fun ride.
10. All of Us Are Dead
All of Us Are Dead makes the terror of high school even worse. A zombie apocalypse outbreak puts the lives of South Korean students in mortal danger and they’ll have to fight the undead to make it out alive. The story goes much deeper than just gore and guts, and instead explores finding love no matter how hopeless things may be. It also shows the power of friendship and how traumatic events can bond people together. This is one you definitely don’t want to miss.